


Malfunction

by soldiermom1973



Series: 1,000 years (A Reconciliation Story) [17]
Category: Mass Effect (Comics), Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect - Various Authors, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Gen, Gunshot, N7 Month 2019, N7 month, Noveria, Shenko - Freeform, bossy kaidan, malfunction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-18
Updated: 2019-11-18
Packaged: 2021-02-08 06:48:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21471781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldiermom1973/pseuds/soldiermom1973
Summary: Allie forgot to duck and is paying for it, but fortunately for her, she's got the best medic in the Alliance on her team.
Relationships: Female Shepard & Garrus Vakarian, Kaidan Alenko & Garrus Vakarian, Kaidan Alenko/Female Shepard
Series: 1,000 years (A Reconciliation Story) [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1460416
Kudos: 12





	Malfunction

**Author's Note:**

> For [N7 Month](https://n7month.tumblr.com/post/188450175349/n7-month-challenge) over on Tumblr. The prompt was 'malfunction'.

Noveria was cold and corrupt. Allie was enjoying the cold part... the corrupt part, not so much. So when Sgt. Stirling decided she was going to come after Allie and her team, it was satisfying to watch that tiny bit of badness come to an end. Allie had been shot at several times, but figured her barrier held and she knew her armor was fully stocked with medi-gel.

Allie, Garrus, and Kaidan were surveying the aftermath when a sudden sharp pain made Allie clutch at her side. She pulled her hand away, shocked to see it covered in blood. She shouldn't have been bleeding – her armor should have dispensed medi-gel which would have clotted everything up. “Kaidan,” she gasped, “I think I got hit.”

“Shit, Shepard,” Kaidan swore when he saw the blood on her hand and was at her side in an instant. Garrus helped her sit as Kaidan pulled his medic kit from a compartment in his armor. “Let me see.”

Allie knew from the look on Kaidan's face it wasn't good. She could feel blood pooling inside her armor and fumbled with the clasps to get it off. “Don't move,” he admonished her, smacking her fingers away. “Just stay still and let me do my job.”

“You're as bad as Chakwas,” she groaned while Garrus chuckled behind her. “My medi-gel was full, Kaidan, I don't understand why I'm bleeding so much.”

“Neither do I,” Kaidan mumbled, focused on getting Allie's torso plate off. “Did you forget to duck on purpose?” We've got to get the leg piece off, too. Garrus, give me a hand.”

The room started to spin when Garrus gently laid Allie flat on her back. She closed her eyes only to have Kaidan sharply yell her name. “Don't close your eyes, Shepard,” he ordered. “Talk to me.”

“About what? Me forgetting to duck?” Allie didn't want to talk – it was entirely too much effort to make her mouth move. It felt like she'd had too much to drink – she knew it was a sign she was losing a lot of blood. She took a deep breath and tried to keep calm; she'd been shot before, that was nothing new, but she'd never seen that look of panic on Kaidan's face before, either, so she knew it was bad.

Why the fuck didn't her armor dose her with medi-gel?

“About anything. Training rosters. Did you look at them yet?” She felt a sharp burn and tingle as Kaidan applied a full dose of medi-gel to her wound, then the feel of the gauze bandage and hard pressure. “Garrus, I need to raise her feet.”

“Training roster...” Allie struggled to focus. “Yes, I think so. Honestly, I barely glance at them because you know what you're doing.”

“You should still look them over, Shepard,” Kaidan said, resting her feet on Garrus's helmet. “I'm not perfect. I'd hate to schedule you for some range training at the same time the Council wants to chew you a new asshole. Garrus, hand me another bandage... no, left pouch.... yes. Those. And call the Normandy. We'll need Chakwas standing by when we get back.”

His comment about the Council made Allie laugh, then promptly wince. She wasn't used to hearing him talk like that, not in front of other people and especially not to her. He was always professionalism personified. The medi-gel did its job and numbed the pain and hopefully stopped, or at least drastically slowed – her bleeding. She tried to focus on Kaidan's voice... it was soothing, she realized. He could read the Mako's tech manual to her and she'd hang on his every word.

“Wouldn't a local doctor be faster?” Garrus asked.

“Maybe, but I don't trust anyone here and especially not after what just happened.” He paused for a moment. “Call that Parasini woman. She might be able to help us keep a lid on this. Shepard, open your eyes, damn it.”

Allie hadn't realized she drifted off. Her eyelids fluttered open and she struggled to keep them that way. “I think I like it when you take charge,” she said, not caring about the double entendré or what Garrus would think. The turian just shook his head and moved away from them while he told the undercover agent what happened.

“Yeah, well, you're in no condition right now,” he answered. “You're going to feel a pinch.”

Allie winced when he stuck a needle in her arm, then taped it fast. “You're adorable when you blush, you know that?” She kept her voice quiet so Garrus couldn't hear her.

“Are you always this forward with your subordinates, Commander?” he asked. The smile on his face told Allie he was teasing.

“Only the cute ones. And only when I've almost bled to death.”

“Parasini is on her way,” Garrus said, kneeling next to Allie. “She's going to bring a couple of people to help us get her to the Normandy. What else can I do?”

“Hold this up.” Kaidan handed him the IV bag. “Generic plasma for your blood type. You should start feeling a little better soon,” he said, taking a deep breath.

“Can I take a nap now?” Allie asked. “I'm so damn tired.”

“Yeah, well, that's to be expected, but no, you can't take a nap now.” He ran his omnitool along her body, lingering over the bullet wound. “You got lucky, Shepard. It doesn't seem like it hit anything vital, but Dr. Chakwas might need to poke around some.”

“It wasn't a through and through?” she asked. Between the medi-gel and the IV, she was starting to feel a little better.

“No and that's probably a good thing.” He sighed and dragged his hand down his face before picking up the pieces of Allie's armor to examine them. “You would have bled out even more. The pods are full,” he frowned. “There must have been a malfunction in the delivery system.”

“That's brand new armor,” Allie said. “When we finish here, the C-Sec requisitions guy is going to get a damn earful.”

“Garrus and I will take a look at it when we get back,” he said. “The tech is still fairly new, too. I'm sure they're still working out the bugs.”

“That's what field testing is for,” Allie fumed.

When Gianna Parasini showed up, Allie refused to let them carry her out on a cot. She was already under enough scrutiny on Noveria for simply being there as a Spectre and she didn't want to draw more attention to herself, not to mention how things would look for her if the first human Spectre was seen being carried away like that. The press would have a field day and Udina would probably have a coronary from the fallout he'd have to 'clean up', though the thought of the latter put a smile on Allie's face.

Parasini ordered the halls evacuated and said there was an unknown gas leak. She assured the group she would take care of the fallout from Stirling's attack and that nothing would come back to them, a suggestion that made Allie laugh. She reminded the secretary she was a Spectre, so there wouldn't be a damn thing anyone would be able to do about it anyway. Once everything was clear, Kaidan and Garrus half-carried, half-dragged Allie back to the docks. 

When Allie was back on board the Normandy, there was a simple surgery to remove the bullet from her side. Dr. Chakwas reiterated what Kaidan said about her being lucky it wasn't worse. “I should probably let him know you're ok, too,” she smiled. “I think he might have worn a hole in the deck out there with his pacing.”

Allie smiled and felt her face heat up from the doc's observation. Her smile grew when Kaidan hurried in to check on her himself. Dr. Chakwas excused herself and Kaidan pulled a chair next to her bed. “You scared the shit out of me, Shepard,” he murmured, grasping her hand. “It's been a long time since I've seen that much blood and to have it be someone I care... I mean someone I work with so closely made it hard to focus.”

Allie's heart hammered at what he almost said. They often flirted, though only in private, but never really said what they felt for each other. “I've seen you work in the field before. I knew I was in good hands. Thank you.”

Kaidan squeezed her hand and smiled. “You're welcome.”

He kept a hold of her hand while he described how he and Garrus completely dismantled her armor and found what the problem was. “They used the wrong type of microprocessor,” he explained, saying something about it being an RISC and not a CISM which could make it overheat...

“Small words, Kaidan,” she shook her head. “Please don't make me have to think about what you're talking about.”

“The processor they used couldn't handle the load,” he laughed. “Sorry. I get wrapped up in explaining this stuff sometimes and forget not everyone knows what I'm talking about.”

It warmed her heart to see his enthusiasm for the technical part of why her armor failed her. Even though he used layman's terms to explain what happened, she only half paid attention to what he was saying, focusing instead on the twinkle in his eye and the way he gestured with his hands. He always got like this when he talked tech – it made him almost as happy as finding out about a new Blasto movie.

“So we definitely need to see the requisitions guy, take him the armor and let him see it for himself,” Kaidan said, bringing Allie out of her thoughts. “I sent him a message with pics and details about what went wrong so he can pull it from his inventory. You might also want to let Elkoss-Combine know, too, so they can look into a recall.”

“Right. Sure. I can do that.” Allie gave him a solemn nod, still watching his eyes shine.

Dr. Chakwas came back in and explained that Garrus was looking for him, something about double checking everyone else's armor. “That's a good idea,” Allie admitted. “I'm surprised you didn't think of that one yourself.”

“I did. I just wanted him to get started on it while I, um, while you, while Dr. Chakwas was taking care of you.” He rubbed the back of his neck and stood. “Anyway, I'm glad you're going to be ok, Commander.”

“She'll be in here for a while,” Dr. Chakwas said as he walked toward the door.

“Right,” Kaidan said, glancing at the doc in confusion. “I figured as much.”

“Well, I know you'll need to restock your medic bag, too.” She crossed her arms and grinned when Kaidan started blushing.

“I should go,” he muttered and hurried out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> I know the armor-dispensing medi-gel thing isn't a thing until ME2, but who's to say that Spectres didn't have access to that tech sooner? So, I took some artistic liberty with it to suit my needs. I also know absolutely nothing about microprocessors, so the one's mentioned I picked up from a really quick google search.
> 
> Also, Bossy Kaidan is sexy, imo.


End file.
